Who Is My Mother?

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 9th of May, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Our Bible provides us with many examples of good, godly women, of loving mothers and their deeds.  When we think of biblical mothers, our thoughts often turn to Mary, the mother of Jesus, or to Eve, the mother of us all.  And then there’s Naomi, better known for being the mother-in-law of Ruth.

One of my favorites is simply identified as the mother of Zebedee’s sons.  The sons of Zebedee, of course, were James and John, whom Jesus referred to as the Sons of Thunder, called as disciples immediately after Peter and Andrew.  We see her twice: once when she asked Jesus for special favors for her sons, and then at the cross as Jesus died.

King David and his son King Solomon both sang the praises of mothers, and mothers play prominent roles in both Testaments of our Bible.  But there was a time when Jesus felt compelled to give a little different slant on that special relationship.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Mark recorded in the 3rd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 31 through 35, and I’ll be reading this from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see Him. They stood outside and sent word for Him to come out and talk with them. 32 There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.”

33 Jesus replied, “Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?” 34 Then He looked at those around Him and said, “Look, these are My mother and brothers. 35 Anyone who does God’s will is My brother and sister and mother.”

--Mark 3:31-35 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving us our mothers.  They nurtured us and took care of us and taught us how to be adults.  Father, please help us remember and honor our mothers.  No one is perfect, but they always did the best they could.  Help us be better parents ourselves, even to those who are not really our children.  Help us nourish others and show them Your love.  And Father, please keep us safe from Satan’s snares and temptations, and from those who do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these worrisome times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Remind us of Your love reflected in the love of our mothers.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Abraham Lincoln once noted that, "No man is poor who has had a godly mother."  An old Spanish proverb says, "An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest."

Ilion Jones writes that, "On the great biographer Ida M. Tarbell's 80th birthday, someone asked her to name the greatest persons she had ever met.  She responded, 'The greatest persons I have ever met are those nobody knows anything about.'

"Once the New York Times was asked to help a woman’s club decide on the twelve greatest women in the United States.  After due consideration, the editors replied, 'The twelve greatest women in the United States are women who have never been heard of outside of their own homes.'"

Jones concludes, "I ask you, who was greater, Thomas Edison or his mother?  When he was a young lad his teacher sent him home with a note which said, 'Your child is dumb.  We can't do anything for him.'  Mrs. Edison wrote back, 'You do not understand my boy.  I will teach him myself'.  And she did, with results that are well known."

Mothers are among the most unrecognized people of greatness in our society.  Sure, they get one day a year of credit for their efforts, which may boil down to only a few hours when it gets right down to it.  They mean so much to us individually, but few are ever known of outside their own homes.  So let’s truly celebrate our mothers, today and every day, for they are a gift from God.

Who is My mother, Jesus asked.

We all have a mother.  For some mothers, motherhood is an accident, and not always a welcome one.  For some, motherhood, even under the very best of circumstances, is still less than a bed of roses.  For some women, biological motherhood isn’t possible.  For some of us, mothers weren’t all that nice.

So why bother with Mothers’ Day at all?  Because for all its stumbling blocks, pitfalls and broken dreams, for all the soiled diapers, crayoned wallpaper, and spoiled plans, motherhood is a beautiful ideal, a natural part of God’s creative plan to bring love and caring to light.  Motherhood is a constant and enduring demand for the gift of love and caring.

Why did Jesus ask that question, “who is My mother”?  Let’s be clear up front that this was simply to set the stage for a teaching moment, for providing more insight into the kingdom of heaven.  Yes, Jesus was busy with the crowd.  But it isn’t like He was too busy for His mother, whom we know He loved.

Oh, wait…  how do we know Jesus loved Mary, how do we know He cared for His earthly mother?  Well, because He assigned His beloved disciple John to watch over her after He was gone.  Listen to the words John recorded in chapter 19 of his Gospel account, verses 25 through 27…

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

--John 19:25-27 (NKJV)

John was to treat Mary as if she were his own mother, and she was to consider John as her own son.  Jesus wanted to make sure that Mary would be well taken care of after He departed this world.  And here again, Jesus is telling us that anyone who does the will of God, as Mary certainly did, should be treated with the same respect and love as our own mother.

In addition to this, though, we know that Jesus followed the Law of Moses and the commandments His Father God handed down.  He said that He came to fulfill the law, not destroy it, and that any part of the law was just as important as any other.

In his book of the Exodus, Moses gives us a glimpse of what Jesus means here by providing a little more insight into God’s law when it comes to our parents.  Please listen as I read from Exodus chapter 20 verse 12 and chapter 21 verses 15 and 17…

20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

21:15 “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

21:17 “And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death."

--Exodus 20:12; 21:15, 17 (NKJV)

Since this is Mother’s Day, let’s just dwell on the mother side of this issue.  We must honor our mothers.  Anyone who strikes their mother will be put to death.  Anyone who curses their mother will be put to death.  Now in the sense of the kingdom of heaven, being put to death means the second death, eternal death, everlasting torment and separation from God.

Add to that what Jesus says, that anyone who does God’s will is our mother.  So we should honor any and all who do God’s will.  We should never strike them nor curse them lest we suffer God’s wrath.

And really, isn’t this just an extension of the command Jesus gave us, to love one another?  For if we do love others, we will treat them with kindness and respect, never even considering striking them or cursing them.  Love others as we love ourselves, as Jesus loves us, as we love our mothers.

So again I say Happy Mother’s Day, to all mothers and to all who do the will of God!  Cherish your mother, if she is still with you.  Or if she has already gone to her just rewards, then cherish her memory.  And not just today, but every day.  Cherish all who do the will of God, for they are our brothers and sisters and mothers.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord!  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for the gift of our mothers.  They love us even when we are unlovable.  They love us as a reflection of Your love.  Thank You, Father, for the tender care and mercy they give us so that through them we might see You.  But Father, sometimes we get too caught up in the details of day to day life and we lose sight of just how important it is for us to love all those folks You put into our lives, including our mothers and all who do Your will.  Sometimes we have trouble even loving ourselves.  Please help us honor the wonderful institution of motherhood that You gave us.  Help us show You our love by loving all others, just as You love us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You knew that we would have trouble doing as You commanded us, something so seemingly simple as loving others.  You knew there would be so many that we find unlovable, so many that we would shun and scorn because they are unlike us, or because they themselves hate us.  So You gave us some examples of what love is, what love means.  You took the time-honored institution of motherhood and showed us that we should love anyone who does the will of our heavenly Father God, loving them as if they were our own mother.  Lord, we ask You to help us understand and obey.  Fortify our will to do God’s will.  Reassure us that what You ask is not really that difficult if we truly listen to Your voice.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter.  And please stand by our side as we try to show Your love to a world that so desperately needs it.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.